#3spdoct23

Three Speed October: Week 2 Ride 1 10/8

Miles: 5

Weather: Overcast, low 60's

In honor of Indigenous People's Day, the National Nordic Museum over in Ballard was free on Sunday! I've been meaning to check out their new temporary exhibit (Arctic Highways: the art of 12 Indigenous Artists from Circumpolar communities), so I decided to drop by before work.

Of course, getting to Ballard means dealing with the dreaded Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman trail. Since it was a Sunday, it also meant dismounting to walk through the Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market, which closes off the street I usually use. (That was okay, it gave me a chance to grab lunch)

The museum has teamed up with a Danish artist to install giant trolls all over the state, so of course I had to get a photo with one.

I also bought some spoke reflectors from the museum gift shop. I'm a sucker for shiny things.

I then headed straight to work (with another stop to walk through the Fremont Sunday Market, since it blocks the bike lane that gets me up and over the Fremont Bridge)

Three Speed October 2023: Week One, Ride One 10/4

Distance: 10 miles

Weather: Upper 60's, sunny/ Upper 50's, clear

On the first wednesday of the month, I go to a certain bar to hang out with friends. It's a bit of a grind getting there, I must admit. First, I have to ascend my nemesis (Stone Way Hill), before skirting the eastern shore of Greenlake. Then I can cut east and keep climbing, until I finally reach the bar.

The nice thing is that I can do this ride almost entirely by bike lane, except for the last bit, which is on a quiet residential street.

Getting home is a bit easier, since it's all downhill!

3 Speed October Week 2 Ride 2: 10/11

Miles: 5

Weather: Rain

I forgot something at work, so I made a quick jaunt down to the ship. It's a nice ride, using the Westlake Cycle Track. The weather held off on my way down, but while I was getting my stuff out of the ship, the heavens opened. Oh well, fortunately I had my rain cape with me!

Three Speed October: Week 1 Ride 3. 10/7

Miles: 4

Weather: Sunny, upper 70s

I had a little trip to make after work on Saturday, so I headed up to REI for some shopping. (Boy, I could spend hours in REI I swear)

That done, I headed home with a stop at a place for dinner. They had a neat hanging bike rack, with an old air pump and tools on chains. Love seeing creative (but still usable) bike racks like this.

Three Speed October 2023: Week 1 Ride 2. 10/5

Miles: 6.5

Weather: Sunny, low 70's

On Thursday, I had to make an unexpected trip to the storage facility where I keep my car. (I know, a car, who are you and what have you done with Ed?). I got a call that one of my tires had gone flat, so I needed to go fix that.

So I left work and biked home to fetch my bicycle tire pump, then took the Ship Canal Trail over to the storage facility (with a pause at the Fremont Bridge, which went up to let the daily Gravel Barge through). Ten minutes of pumping brought my car tire back to full (boy was that hard work), then I biked home to make an appointment to get my tire fixed.

Hey folks! Apologies for the radio silence, there hasn’t been a lot going on at the SoTS HQ. I’m still hoping to make a Three Speed Ride happen in summer. But first, a little unfinished biz: Our patch maker, Falls Creek Outfitters, has the prize patch currently in production. Yeah, I hoped to have it done by now, but sometimes I work sloooow. (That’s me, not Falls Creek.) I like how they came…

Hello folks. We’re closing in on the end of this year’s Three Speed October 2023 Challenge! I hope you are having fun. This is a round-up of the public reports I’ve seen of the challenge from October 8th through October 21st. First off, I completed my challenge! Here are my reports from Week Two: Coffeeneuring 2023, Rides 1 and 2 report: A little bit of rock and roll My Three Speed October…